College and Research Libraries


and family purchasers, the publisher of 
course makes available its yearbook, but 
librarians will probably be more pleased to 
observe the sustained attempts being mani-
fest to keep the basic work revised and up-
dated. We wish Collier's all success in this 
effort.-D.K. 

The Cornell Library Conference: Papers 
Read at the Dedication of the Central 
Libraries, October, 1962. Ithaca, N.Y.: 
Cornell University Library, 1964. xiv, 
148p. (64-13711). 

This slender volume contains the ten pa-
pers read at the Cornell dedication in the 
autumn of 1962. There are contributions by 
six librarians: Sir Frank Francis, Stephen A. 
McCarthy, Ralph E. Ellsworth, William S. 
Dix, Raynard C. Swank, George H. Healy; 
two professors: Lionel Trilling, and Steven 
Muller; one academic administrator: W. R. 
Keast, and one architect: Charles H. War-
ner, Jr. The papers vary in length, quality, 
and content but have a unifying theme 
which is libraries and graduate and under-
graduate education, libraries and interna-
tional affairs, and library development in 
the future-topics that are seasonable as 
well as perennial. 

The paper by Sir Frank Francis, "Let the 
Past and Future Fire Thy Brain," is long, 
circuitous, and tranquilizing. Director Mc-
Carthy, in "The Cornell Library System," 
briefly described the development of the 
Cornell library system and revealed plans 
and hopes for the future. Mr. Warner con-
cisely related the agony and ecstasy experi-
enced in designing the 0 lin library and re-
designing the Uris library. W. R. Keast, in 
"The True University of These Days Is a 
Collection of Books," explored the sweeping 
educational potential of the- undergraduate 
library if use went beyond study hall and 
reserved reading functions. Professor Trill-
ing, in "The Scholar's Caution and the 
Scholar's Courage," was critically concerned 
with the current quality of graduate studies 
in the humanities. Ellis Worth's "Libraries, 
Students, and Faculty," rebuked librarians 
for some current practices, universities for 
wasteful duplication of curriculums, and en-
dorsed the humanities. Muller, in "Shrunken 
Globe, Swollen Curriculum," reviewed the 
internationalization of the American uni-
versity curriculum and described the bur-

Book Reviews I 63 

dens and responsibilities this revolution has 
brought to the libraries. Dix, in "The Re-
search Library and International Affairs 
Programs," spoke of library methods used to 
meet the challenge of the internationalized 
university. Swank, in "International Values 
in American Librarianship," defined librar-
ianship as an "international affair in its own 
right" and discussed those aspects of Amer-
ican library practice which he considered 
valuable for export to developing nations. 
George Healey, in "Yes, But What Does a 
Curator Do?" gave answer to the question 
in a clever and delightful manner. 

It is a significant event in the world of 
higher education when a most pressing 
educational problem is solved by large-scale 
investment in library buildings. It becomes 
more so when a private university with a 
strong tradition for academic excellence 
elects to demonstrate this evidence of long-
range planning and faith in the value of 
quality education in this tangible manner. 
This book may be considered a memento of 
two pleasant days, or a reminder of the 
courage and foresight of the Cornell U ni-
versity administration.-CeciZ K. Byrd, Indi-
ana University. 

Library Buildings of Britain and Europe 
-An International Study, with Ex-
amples Mainly from Britain and Some 
from Europe and Overseas. By Anthony 
Thompson. London: Butterworths, 1963. 
xii, 326p. $21. 

This is a comprehensive work on library 
buildings. Since they are so richly docu-
mented, Anthony Thompson has successful-
ly coordinated a large portion of the mass 
of available information and has presented 
it in a systematic and readable form. This 
reviewer agrees with the author when he 
says that he has tried to do the almost im-
possible-to illustrate with plans and photo-
graphs selected good examples of the main 
types of libraries, chiefly British, with a 
number from Europe, plus some notes on 
several outstanding exemplary buildings in 
the United States and British Common-
wealth. He has produced "a systematic 
study of the whole subject, to serve not 
only as a reference book for students of li-
brarianship, but also as a guide for librar-
ians intending to build, and as a book on 
libraries for architects" (p. xi).